New York Guardians defensive lineman Bunmi Rotimi has stood out as one of the best defensive players in the XFL so far this season. Rotimi spoke with Back Sports Page (BSP) about his football career and the opportunity to play for the Guardians in the XFL.
Rotimi is from Alexandria, Virginia and went to West Potomac high school. Rotimi did not take up football until late in his childhood.
“Growing up, I didn’t even play football, to be honest with you. Growing up I was just a video game nerd who sometimes chilled with friends outside. I didn’t even get into football until my freshman year of high school.”
For a football player who likes video games, one can assume that Rotimi is all about Madden NFL, the football video game.
“I am actually not a fan of Madden, believe it or not. I am not good at Madden at all. Sports games just aren’t really my thing.”
Rotimi is a big dude, currently standing 6’3 weighing 273 pounds. His size is a big part of why he picked up the sport in the first place.
“Growing up I was always big so everyone was like ‘you should come play football’ but I wasn’t necessarily trying to pay the money that you gotta pay to play football before high school. So then freshman year of high school comes around and I figured I might as well try it. The first year I didn’t even like it that much. I was playing offensive line and I ended up transferring high schools with more of my friends who were more supportive and made it fun to be one the same team with them, and that’s when football started to grow on me.”
After high school, Rotimi played college football for the Old Dominion Monarchs. He played defensive tackle as an underclassman but moved to defensive end as an upperclassman.
Rotimi went undrafted in the 2018 NFL Draft but signed with the Chicago Bears. It was expected that Bunmi would move to the 3-4 defensive end position for the Bears but was cut before pre-season games started. Bunmi has not spent time with an NFL team since.
The New York Guardians drafted Rotimi in the 2020 XFL Draft to play defensive tackle. Throughout three games, Rotimi has 23 tackles, which ranks second in the XFL. Rotimi told BSP how it feels to be recognized amongst the league leaders.
“It’s not something I think about, but to get that recognition, to even have you talk to me about it is a great honor. I appreciate the respect and recognition. The way I look at it, it is a testament to all the guys around me, they all do their jobs and ball out too. They make it easy for me to show off on game day.”
BSP asked Bunmi what the biggest difference between playing in the XFL versus playing in the NFL.
“For me, there is not really too much of a difference. Personally, my tenure in the NFL wasn’t a long one, I was just with the Bears for a short training camp. So far, the XFL has been a lot more fun. I’m playing a position I think I am a lot more suited for off the edge. To answer your question, the XFL has been a lot more fun for me.”
Since the Guardians have started the season 1-2 while struggling to get their offense going, BSP asked Bunmi what changes the team can make to be more successful.
“Just enforce the mindset that we already have. I think we sorta got away from that a bit, people didn’t have the right intensity, the right come from behind mentality when we get down early in the game so just reinforcing the mindset of just play the next down and you can always win the game no matter the situation.”
BSP asked Bunmi what being a Guardian meant to him.
“It’s a pride thing. You’re representing New York, which is New York obviously. It’s just pride really. It’s not really something I knew coming into the organization and now that I’ve seen the way everybody around the building carries themselves, the way that everybody handles themselves on and off the field, on social media, all of the other organizational elements and understanding the city of New York now that I’ve been around here for a little bit longer. It’s a culture that I gotta represent well and I got to make sure that pride and being a Guardian means something to me.”
Rotimi has a message for Guardian fans who have been following along this season.
“We love y’all and we appreciate the support y’all been giving us. We promise we will get ourselves right. Please keep supporting, please keep coming out, we love y’all.”
